How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 331 Conspiracy
Principal's office.

"boom!"

A security guard rushed in through the door, his face filled with anxiety.

Zhou Maoquan, who was watching a short film, was startled by the sudden intruder. He quickly closed his laptop and said irritably, "Don't you know how to knock before coming in? You have no manners at all. This isn't your home."

"Principal, something bad has happened!" the security guard said breathlessly. "Principal Zhang from Xingxiang Art Examination School is here again."

"what?"

Zhou Maoquan frowned, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Wasn't Xingxiang Art Exam Training Center splashed with stinky tofu? What's this guy surnamed Zhang doing here instead of staying at the training school? Isn't he afraid of getting splashed again?
He couldn't help but recall the phone call the big boss had just made; he was probably here to confront him.

Zhou Maoquan breathed a sigh of relief, then leaned back in his leather swivel chair, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth and a hint of smugness on his eyebrows.

The other party has no evidence, and you can't convict him based on guesswork and suspicion alone. If the other party is just making trouble for no reason, you can take a picture and show it to the boss.

"Hey Zhang, you're so arrogant, aren't you? I'll make sure you're infamous right now."

Zhou Maoquan was secretly pleased with himself. He looked at the security guard and said, "So what if he's here? What's the rush? He's not going to eat you. Is he here to see me? Just say I'm not here."

"Principal, he's not here to see you. He's here to poach teachers," the security guard said angrily.

The receptionist received an invitation, the teacher received an invitation, but he, the security guard, was the only one who didn't receive an invitation. Isn't this discriminatory treatment?

We must not let the other side succeed.

"what?"

Zhou Maoquan immediately sat up from his swivel chair, his face filled with astonishment.

Aren't Xingxiang's instructors training teachers from Tianxi Media? Why is this guy surnamed Zhang trying to poach their teachers?

Last time they came here to poach students, this time they're poaching teachers. Is this guy some kind of shovel that's become sentient? Why does he like digging so much?

"Principal, please hurry down and take a look. Many teachers have received invitations. If you don't go down soon, our school might have to close down." The security guard feigned urgency to demonstrate his loyalty.

Maybe the principal will be in a good mood and arrange for him to be the head of security, even though the organization only has two security guards.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Maoquan immediately got up from his seat and quickly walked out of the office.

It's currently the start of summer classes, which is also the busiest time for the entire training center. There are so many teachers, and if one is poached, it's impossible to find a replacement.

We absolutely cannot let that guy surnamed Zhang succeed.

As the elevator descended from the fifth floor to the first floor, Zhou Maoquan eagerly stepped out as soon as the doors opened halfway.

Soon, he saw the young man surnamed Zhang in the lobby, who was talking to one of the teachers at the institution.

"Teacher Tian, ​​I've been watching you for a while now. Although Xingxiang isn't as big as Jiahua, our benefits are better. Here's my business card; please think it over carefully..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Maoquan's face immediately darkened.

It's normal for competitors to poach each other's staff; he's poached teachers from other training institutions before. But this is the first time he's seen someone poach directly from a competitor's territory.

Too embarrassing!

Zhou Maoquan strode over, snatched the business card from Teacher Tian's hand, and tore it into pieces.

"Principal Zhang, what do you mean by this?" Zhou Maoquan asked with a stern face, as if he harbored resentment over the loss of his wife.

"As you can see, we're poaching people," Zhang Wen said calmly, showing no worry or fear at being caught red-handed, but rather a completely composed expression.

“Principal Zhang, I have no objection to you poaching teachers from Jiahua, but for you to come into Jiahua to poach people, isn’t that a bit disrespectful to me as the principal?” Zhou Maoquan asked coldly.

"What, you want to come to Xingxiang too? Sorry, I'm not interested in you," Zhang Wen said, shaking his head.

"You, you get out of here!" Zhou Maoquan pointed at the door, his eyes bulging with anger.

He now deeply regrets arranging for people to throw stinky tofu; he should have just thrown feces instead.

“Principal Zhou, this is between Teacher Tian and me. I advise you not to meddle.” Zhang Wen said, turning to Teacher Tian beside him and shoving a business card into her hand. “Teacher Tian, ​​I assure you, if you join Xingxiang, your monthly salary will increase by 20% from your current level.”

Tian Xingyang was slightly taken aback, and then his heart began to flutter.

If the increase is only one or two thousand, he would definitely not go to Xingxiang, but a 20% increase, based on his current monthly salary of 25,000, is an increase of 5,000.

This is not a small amount.

"Zhang Wen!" Zhou Maoquan shouted out his name in anger, "What you're doing is so unethical!"

"Morality? You want to talk to me about morality?" Zhang Wen laughed directly, as if he had heard a joke. "Principal Zhou, do you have the right to talk to me about morality? If you are dissatisfied, you can go to Xingxiang to poach people. I promise I won't stop you."

"..."

Zhou Maoquan clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on his neck, and his teeth grinding together.

He had considered poaching talent; with Jia Hua's strength, he would be able to poach anyone without fail, since people naturally strive for better opportunities. However, the problem was that the current opponent's situation was rather unique.

All the training teachers at Xingxiang Art Exam Training School come from Tianxi Media, and they are all their subordinates, so there's no way to poach them.

He had considered asking the big boss to put pressure on these training teachers, but the big boss didn't care about this at all, so he couldn't poach them even if he wanted to.

No, we absolutely cannot let them poach our teachers.

“It’s just a 20% increase in salary, right? I can have that too.” Zhou Maoquan turned to Tian Xingyang behind him and said, “Teacher Tian, ​​starting next month, your monthly salary will increase by 20%.”

"what?"

Tian Xingyang's eyes lit up when he heard this.

This is a raise?

If Jia Hua offered him the same salary as Xing Xiang, he would certainly be willing to stay with Jia Hua.

"Principal Zhang, I've worked at Jiahua for five years and have developed a deep affection for this place, so I will not leave," Tian Xingyang said confidently.

However, although he verbally refused, he was very grateful to Principal Zhang. If Principal Zhang hadn't poached him to Xingxiang, Principal Zhou wouldn't have given him a raise, let alone such a large one.

Upon hearing Teacher Tian's words, Zhou Maoquan immediately revealed a smug expression, and when he looked at his competitor in front of him, his eyes even carried a hint of smugness.

It's as if it's saying: See? My teacher won't go with you.

Zhang Wen smiled faintly, looked at Teacher Tian and said, "I'll give you a 50% raise!"

Tian Xingyang froze, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.

Oh no, I spoke too soon.

Fifty percent is 12,500, and the monthly salary is heading straight for 40,000.

"Principal Zhang, are you telling the truth?" Tian Xingyang asked after a moment's hesitation.

What feelings? Bah!
Feelings are worthless in the face of money.

"Of course it's true, how could I lie about something like this?" Zhang Wen said seriously.

Tian Xingyang unconsciously swallowed, thought for a moment, and said, "Principal Zhang, thank you for valuing me so much. I will seriously consider it." After saying that, he put the business card into his pocket.

When Zhou Maoquan saw Teacher Tian's reaction, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. Just a moment ago he had been so loyal and devoted, but in the blink of an eye he had changed his mind.

They're so greedy and ungrateful.

He cursed inwardly, then said to Teacher Tian, ​​"I've seen all your hard work over the years, so I'll give you a 50% raise."

He didn't want to add it, but he didn't want to lose to this guy surnamed Zhang, so he had no choice but to add it.

If word gets out, he, the headmaster of Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center, will be seen losing to an unknown small institution...

What do our peers think? What do the teachers in the organization think? What do the parents and students think?
Those who know the story think it's because this Mr. Zhang is arbitrarily raising prices; those who don't might think Jia Hua is poorly managed and can't even afford to raise teachers' salaries.

Doesn't he want to lose face?
This is no longer a simple case of a competitor poaching employees; it's a contest of strength between two training institutions.

Tian Xingyang's body trembled again.

Principal Zhou's side also saw an increase?

Oh no, I spoke too soon.

He looked at the principal of Xingxiang Art Examination Center in front of him and said seriously, "Principal Zhang, I have thought it over and decided to stay at Jiahua."

This time, Zhou Maoquan was neither smug nor boastful. He stared intently at the man surnamed Zhang, his nerves taut to the extreme, thinking: Stop rising, stop the hell from rising any further!

"Ugh!"

Zhang Wen sighed softly, his face full of regret, and said, "Since Teacher Tian can't let go of her feelings for Jia Hua, then I'll grant your wish."

He then looked at Zhou Maoquan with an expression of admiration, "Jiahua is indeed Jiahua, and Principal Zhou is truly generous and wealthy. I admire you."

"Hmph, good to know." Zhou Maoquan snorted coldly, his face full of pride, while inwardly letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

Zhang Wen chuckled and looked at another teacher, "Actually, Teacher Shen is not bad either. Since I couldn't recruit Teacher Tian, ​​I'll try recruiting Teacher Shen."

Zhou Maoquan's body suddenly froze, and when he came to his senses, his face had turned ashen.

It wasn't until this moment that he realized he had been tricked.

The other party's real purpose in coming here tonight is not to poach people!
The so-called poaching is just a pretext.

For example, now that the other party has changed their target and wants to poach Teacher Shen, the question is, should they keep Teacher Shen?
Do not stay?

Teacher Shen will be poached, which will affect the training course.

留？
We need to increase Teacher Shen's salary by 50%.

It's important to know that Jia Hua has dozens of teachers.

If Mr. Zhang were to recruit each teacher individually, would he be obligated to raise each teacher's salary by 50%?

As a result, Jia Hua will have to pay hundreds of thousands more in salaries every month, which adds up to millions a year. His income will be halved. How will he explain this to the big boss?

Anyone who didn't know better would think he had embezzled money.

Grass!
What a vicious and cunning scheme.

"Principal Zhou, I'm going to poach Teacher Shen!" Zhang Wen said, then strode towards Teacher Shen, glancing back as he went. "I'm really going to poach Teacher Shen."

Damn, that's so cheap!

Zhou Maoquan cursed under his breath; he had never seen anyone bully people like this.

So despicable.

"Security! Security!" Zhou Maoquan shouted.

"Principal, what's the matter?" The security guard who had tipped them off earlier rushed over.

"Throw this person out of the gate and forbid him from coming in again!" Zhou Maoquan said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Principal." The security guard responded, then stepped forward to the target. "Principal Zhang, are you leaving on your own, or should I kick you out?"

After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves, looking like he was about to take action.

Zhang Wen stood still, looked at the security guard and said, "If I said that my T-shirt costs over ten thousand yuan and my pants cost over thirty thousand yuan, how would you respond?"

Uh……

The security guard's initial arrogance was instantly extinguished, and he even unconsciously took a step back, turning to look at Principal Zhou beside him.

His monthly salary is only 4,500 yuan. If he accidentally damages the other person's T-shirt and pants, wouldn't he have worked for nothing for a year?
“Don’t be afraid, I’ll take full responsibility for all the consequences,” Zhou Maoquan said. All he wanted now was to get this guy surnamed Zhang out of the training institution.

Upon hearing this, the security guard suddenly felt more confident and took two more steps forward.

"Principal Zhou is very responsible!" Zhang Wen said, raising the expensive watch on his wrist. "This watch isn't expensive, only about a million. If it gets broken by accident, Principal Zhou, remember to pay for it."

The security guard retreated swiftly, as if he had teleported.

A watch worth over a million?

The next thirty years of hard work have been wasted.

Zhou Maoquan stared intently at the watch, and this time he didn't say anything like "I'll take full responsibility for the consequences."

He might be willing to pay for something worth tens of thousands of yuan to save face, but he's not willing to be taken advantage of for something worth over a million yuan.

"Zhang, what's the difference between your behavior and that of a scoundrel!" Zhou Maoquan sneered.

“Of course there is a difference.” Zhang Wen looked at Zhou Maoquan with a half-smile and said, “I always resolve things face to face, unlike some people who secretly send people to throw stinky tofu.”

Zhou Maoquan blushed, but he tried his best to remain calm. He knew that the other party had come here tonight because of the stinky tofu incident.

Poaching people is just a form of revenge.

"What stinky tofu? What are you talking about?" Zhou Maoquan pretended not to understand.

"Principal Zhou truly lives up to his reputation as the head of Jiahua; his acting skills are top-notch." Zhang Wen gave the other person a thumbs up, then suddenly asked, "Director Zhu isn't here, is he? Hasn't he returned yet?"

Zhou Maoquan's eyes narrowed, and his heart began to race.

Why did the other party suddenly mention Director Zhu?
Could it be that the other party already knows that the group that threw the stinky tofu was arranged by Director Zhu?

How did the other party know?
He really wanted to call Zhu Zhengyan to ask about tonight's operation, but Zhang was right in front of him. If he dialed the number, wouldn't he be giving himself away?
Ignoring Zhou Maoquan's wandering thoughts, Zhang Wen continued, "Principal Zhou, you don't know yet, do you? The person who threw stinky tofu has been arrested by the police and is currently at the police station. Director Zhu has already paid the fine, but we don't know if they can get him out."

"what?"

Zhou Maoquan's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

Someone was arrested?

Did Director Zhu go to the police station?
Doesn't this mean that things have been exposed?
Zhang Wen smiled as he looked at the bewildered Zhou Maoquan, then turned and walked out of the Jia Hua Art Examination Training Center.

Endure the torment!
……

(End of this chapter)